All I Know
by awilystar
Summary: From here on out, no promises between us, okay? It’s too easy to break them.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **All I Know

**Rating: **PG for now, possibly M later in the story.

**Summary: **Brennan and Booth baby-sit their goddaughter for two weeks while Angela and Hodgins honeymoon in the Caribbean. After four long years apart, will they finally get the chance to start over? AU, futurefic, BB with some HA.

**Author's Note: **My newest creation, born of a free summer that stretches before me! I've never tried something like this before, but hopefully you will enjoy it. I have the next part mostly completed, but after that I have no idea where this is going. Please take a moment to review, give me some feedback. Enjoy!

------------------------

"I took the job," were the first words that Brennan said to him when he opened the door.

"Bones, what?" Booth replied groggily, running a hand over his mussed hair.

"I know it's midnight and everything, but I just thought you'd like to be the first to know," she shrugged and tucked her hands into her pockets.

Booth sighed and stepped aside so Brennan could enter the apartment. "Come in," he said. She hovered awkwardly in the foyer until he gently grasped her elbow and steered her to the couch. Booth could see the wheels turning in her head. "Hey," Booth tipped her chin up so he could see her eyes. "I thought you wanted this job, Bones. What's the problem, did something happen?" Brennan shook her head adamantly, sending her auburn hair flying. He resisted the urge to brush a stray curl back behind her ear.

"No, nothing happened," she dropped her gaze and Booth removed his hand from her face. "It's great, it's Stanford… it's great. I'll be teaching, of course, but I get a stipend for my anthropology research. It's been so long since I've been out there in the field. I miss it," she smiled wistfully. Booth tried to suppress the burning jealousy that simmered beneath his skin. Wasn't working with the FBI exciting enough for her?

"Then what's wrong?" he questioned, pushing his feelings to the side.

"I've never _not _wanted to leave somewhere so much in my life," she paused and Booth's heart leapt in his chest. "For the first time, I have people. Living, breathing people who I'd like to think actually care whether I stay or go or what happens to me. It's kind of nice…"

"Yeah…" Booth cleared his throat and a silence fell over the pair. "You know, Bones, I'll miss you," he said after a moment. Brennan looked up at him and smiled that half-smile, the one Booth liked to think she reserved just for him, eyes darkened to a midnight blue.

"I know," she replied simply. Booth longed for her to say that she'd miss him too.

"So, have you started packing yet?" he questioned to break the silence, lest he do something irrational to convince her to stay.

"Of course not, Booth," Brennan narrowed her eyes. "I just decided to accept the offer tonight, and then I came straight here," she gestured to their surroundings.

"To tell me…" Booth felt like a total idiot.

"To tell you," she nodded.

"When do you have to be out there?"

"My plane leaves at one in the afternoon, the fourteenth," Brennan didn't look at him. Booth quickly did the math; two weeks exactly until his world fell apart at the seams.

"Great, I'll clear my schedule," Booth stood from the couch and nodded briskly.

"Why would you do that?"

"You'll need a ride to the airport, Bones," he chastised.

"Oh, okay…" Booth didn't fail to notice that she accepted his gesture without protest. Brennan glanced at the clock on the wall and rose to stand beside Booth at the end of the couch.

"It's late, I should go," she said.

"You don't have to," Booth replied. _Stay._

"Yes, I do." Booth knew what would happen if she didn't leave his apartment. Though he ardently wanted to lose himself in her, he wanted her to be happy even more. He had given her as much of himself as she was willing to take. Now it was time for her to move on; that she moved on without him was just a fact of life.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow, Bones."

"Tomorrow?" she asked, confused.

"Oh, we have a case, did I forget to mention that?" he smiled.

"Yes, you did forget," she scolded him.

"It'll probably be our last together, huh?" Booth didn't mean to bring the solemn mood back. Brennan nodded and he looked at the floor as she shuffled past him, heading towards the door to make her exit, from his apartment and from his life.

"Booth?" she called back over her shoulder.

"Yes, Bones?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For tolerating me…" Brennan turned away from the door to face him, "for being a pretty good partner, most of the time." Booth chuckled so that he wouldn't start to cry.

"No problem," he replied. "Thanks for being my best friend, Bones. You'll visit, right?" Brennan's eyes were shiny with tears as she took three long strides to reach his side.

"I promise, Booth," Brennan said gravely. "I'll visit you. I promise." He was surprised when she stepped forward and slipped her arms around his shoulders to pull him into a hug.

"I'll be there," Booth smiled. "Wherever there's a cop beatin' up a guy, I'll be there," he quoted the movie that had been playing in the hospital after their first disastrous case.

"Why would a cop beat someone up?" Brennan loosened her hold on him to look at his face, her brow creased with confusion.

"Never mind, Bones, never mind," Booth impulsively leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead, lips lingering against her skin for a moment too long.

"I parked in front of a fire hydrant," Brennan mumbled against his neck, her warm breath very nearly tempting Booth to rethink his earlier decision of letting her leave.

"Alright," they reluctantly separated. "Go, get some sleep."

"Bye," Brennan whispered, and then she was gone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **All I Know

**Rating: **PG for now, possibly M later in the story.

**Summary: **Brennan and Booth baby-sit their goddaughter for two weeks while Angela and Hodgins honeymoon in the Caribbean. After four long years apart, will they finally get the chance to start over? AU, futurefic, BB with some HA.

**Author's Note: **Thank you guys so much for the reviews! I hope you like this next part. Just some clarification: we've jumped ahead 4 years, Brennan is back in D.C. for Angela and Hodgins' wedding and to baby-sit their daughter (her goddaughter), Gracie, while they go on their honeymoon. Remember, feedback is love!

------------------------

_Washington, D.C., June 5__th__, 2011_

Brennan walked through the busy concourse, counting the steps in her head.

"Brennan?" Angela was waiting for her just outside the security gates.

"Angela, hey!" Brennan pushed through the crowd to hug her friend.

"It's so wonderful to see you, sweetie."

"You look great, Ange," Brennan commented, holding her friend at arm's length.

"You sound surprised," Angela smiled wryly.

"Oh, no, it's just that I thought –"

"You know, Gracie's three months old now."

"I know, I know…" Brennan slung her bag over her shoulder and followed Angela to the car.

"I can't believe you haven't seen her yet," Angela scolded. "She's your goddaughter, Bren."

"I'm sorry, work has just been so busy," Brennan sighed. "Classes are done for the summer, so I finally get a break before Colombia."

"Four years, sweetie… I haven't seen you in four years! And the wedding's in two days!"

"Ange, I apologized. Besides, I'm here now, am I not?"

"Yes, you are," Angela nodded. "I'm sorry for snapping. I've just missed you, hon."

"I've missed you too." Brennan tossed her suitcase in the back of the car and climbed in, buckling up. "How is everybody?"

"We're all doing well," Angela started the car and began to navigate traffic. "Cam went back to New York, Zach's head of the department now, Hodgins and I are still doing our thing. Booth's been back and forth when he needs us, but he got a new FBI partner a couple years ago."

"Oh?" Brennan was immediately curious.

"Her name's Katie Tinney, but everyone calls her Tinney. Don't ask me why. She took two weeks off for vacation, so you probably won't meet her, but I think you'd like her." Angela had become good friends with Booth's partner. "She and Booth had a thing a while back," she glanced sideways at Brennan.

"A _thing_?" Brennan guessed that the fabled line between partners and lovers wasn't so forbidden for Booth to cross after all.

"Yeah, but Booth ended it," Brenna raised her eyebrows. "I don't know why, he didn't really want to talk about it."

Silence fell over the car as Brennan process this information. The rest of the drive passed quickly, and before she knew it, Angela had pulled into a winding driveway. Tall trees lined each side of the gravel drive, and Brennan was impressed. So this was the fabled Hodgins mansion. The car rolled to a stop and the two friends unbuckled their seatbelts.

"That's a gargantuan house, Ange!"

"Gargantuan?" Angela chucked. "I guess it's pretty big. Come on, sweetie, I'll show you your room and all that. Dinner with the wedding party is at six and you can meet Gracie when she wakes up from her nap."

------------------------

Brennan grabbed her bag from the trunk and followed Angela up the marble steps to the front door.

A reunited Brennan and Hodgins were sitting in the den, both with a glass of diet soda, when Angela disappeared momentarily only to return shortly with a bright-eyed baby girl. Brennan assumed that this could only be Gracie. Setting her glass on the coffee table, she smoothed her palms over her thighs, suddenly nervous. Angela sat next to Brennan on the couch, holding Gracie on her lap.

"Bren," Angela said. "Meet Gracie Anne Hodgins. Gracie-boo, meet your Aunt Tempe." She turned and placed the baby in Brennan's reluctant arms. Gracie gurgled at Brennan and immediately reached for one of her dangling earrings. "She likes you, sweetie."

"Hi, Gracie," Brennan carefully untangled the baby's fingers from her earring, offering her a lock of hair instead. "She's beautiful, you guys."

"Thank God she looks like Angela and not me," Hodgins chortled.

"She's definitely a daddy's girl though," Angela smiled.

The group was interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. "That must be Zach," Angela said. Hodgins got up to answer the door, and a moment later the two men reappeared.

"Doctor Brennan!" Zach greeted her gleefully. Brennan passed Gracie back to Angela and stood with a smile.

"It's nice to see you, Doctor Addy," she replied, stepping forward to give her ex-student a hug. "How are things at the Jeffersonian?" Before Zach could answer, the doorbell rang again.

"Booth's here," Hodgins stated.

Brennan's mouth went dry and she swallowed, trying to calm herself down. Booth's voice came from around the corner._ "How's my favorite squint squad?"_ Brennan allowed a small smile to appear on her face, but it vanished when she saw Booth. He was the same, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, and she was as much in love with him now as she was four years ago. She willed this problem back into the recesses of her brain to be pondered upon later.

"Hello, Agent Booth," Zach said. Brennan was surprised when Booth crossed the room and patted Zach on the shoulder.

"Zach, my man, nice to see you." Booth turned to the couch and saw the others sitting side-by-side. "Hey, Peanut, come give your Uncle Seeley a hug!" He reached his arms out for Gracie, who squirmed as Angela handed her over. Booth cradled the baby to his chest and pressed a kiss against her dark hair.

Brennan was slightly put-off that Booth had yet to say hello to her after four years apart, so she spoke up. "Hi, Booth…"

"Bones," he passed Gracie to Hodgins. "How have you been?"

Angela, feeling the tension, urged Hodgins and Zach from the room to give Brennan and Booth a moment alone. "We'll be in the dining room, sweetie."

"Thanks, Ange," Brennan had never been more grateful for Angela's understanding. She turned back to Booth and folded her arms over her chest. "I've been good."

"Good?" Booth nodded. "That's good…" An awkward silence fell over the pair.

"How's Parker?" Brennan questioned.

"He's good."

"Good…"

"Bones…" Booth started.

"Peanut?" Brennan questioned.

"What?"

"You called Gracie 'Peanut'," she clarified.

"Yeah…"

"Why?"

"It's a special nickname," Booth sighed. "Kinda like yours…"

"You look the same." Brennan was proving herself to be the master of changing topics.

"What did you expect?" Booth couldn't say that she looked the same, because she didn't. Her hair was longer, more wavy, and a simple chain around her neck had taken the place of her usually more flamboyant jewelry. Upon closer inspection, Booth recognized it. For her birthday the year after she left, he had sent her a necklace with a silver dolphin charm, but he hadn't heard anything back from Brennan.

"Stop staring."

"Nice necklace, Bones," Booth commented, smiling. "Where'd you get it?"

"Booth, you know very well that you gave it to me."

"I didn't know you liked it, 'cause you know, I never heard anything from you…" Booth was seeking an explanation.

"I love it." Brennan stepped forward to give Booth a hug. His arms came around her, pressed against her shoulder blades, and she sighed into his neck. "Can we talk later?"

"Sure thing, Bones." Booth noticed that her hair smelled like cucumbers. "Whatever you want."

"Okay. Let's go eat." She backed out of his embrace and vanished through the double doors to the dining room.

------------------------

For some reason, all I could think about while writing this was the Ben Folds song _Gracie_. You should listen to it, it's great :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **All I Know

**Rating: **PG for now, possibly M later in the story.

**Summary: **Brennan and Booth baby-sit their goddaughter for two weeks while Angela and Hodgins honeymoon in the Caribbean. After four long years apart, will they finally get the chance to start over? AU, futurefic, BB with some HA.

**Author's Note: **Once again, thank you for all of your lovely reviews. Here's the next part. It's basically a filler before we get to the good part, a.k.a. babysitting!Brennan. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I myself found it slightly choppy when writing, but oh well. Please take a moment to tell me what you liked, didn't like, etc.

------------------------

"I'm so nervous!" Angela paced back and forth, refusing any attempt by Brennan to calm her down.

"Angela, stop, _please_!" Brennan put a hand on her friend's arm to get her attention.

"Bren, I'm sorry," Angela's voice began to rise. "But I'm freaking out here!"

"You look beautiful, Ange, there's nothing to be worried about." She grabbed Angela's hand and squeezed. "So what's wrong?"

"I'm just… I'm _scared_! One man for the rest of my life. That's not me!" Angela blinked and shook her head. "I can't do this, Bren."

"Don't be preposterous, it's too late to be scared." When Angela didn't say anything, Brennan took a deep breath and continued. "You know I don't believe in fate and destiny and all that ridiculously illogical jargon, but I believe in you _and_ I believe in Hodgins. You guys have Gracie and you have each other. What's there to be afraid of?" Brennan wasn't surprised when Angela hugged her. Her arguments were based on reason, not emotion, and there was nothing to disagree with.

"You know, sweetie…" Brennan didn't like the Angela's tone. "I think California's made you softer."

"Softer?"

"Yeah," Angela nodded. "I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be trying to _convince _me to get married!"

"I'm glad to be of service," Brennan smiled at her friend. "But I still believe that marriage is an archaic institution."

"One day, you might just change your mind, Bren." Brennan was pondering this statement, half-watching as Angela primped in front of the mirror, when a knock reverberated throughout the room.

"Are you ready?" Booth popped his head in and waggled his eyebrows.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Angela mumbled under her breath. Booth took this as a cue to enter.

"You look amazing, Ange." He gave Angela a brief hug. "You too, Bones." The charm smile appeared, and Brennan couldn't stop herself from smiling briefly in return.

"Come on," Brennan said, linking her arm with Booth's. "Hodgins is waiting."

------------------------

"With great joy, we have come here today in the presence of God to join this man, Jack Stanley Hodgins, and this woman, Angela Pearlygates Montenegro, in holy matrimony."

From her maid of honor position next to Angela, Brennan found her thoughts drifting. The church was nearly full, and the lack of an air conditioner made the July heat seem omnipresent. Brennan took a deep breath and subtly wiped a curl away from her face, shifting in her high heels. Zach, standing across from her as Hodgins' best man, seemed uncomfortable in his suit, and to his right Booth appeared to be in a world of his own.

"… and now the bride and groom will recite their vows as they place the ring on the other's finger. The rings, if you will please."

Hodgins turned away from Angela, accepting the ring that Zach held out to him.

"I, Jack Hodgins, take you, Angela Montenegro, to be none other than yourself. I promise to stand by your side; to encourage you and be open and honest with you, to laugh with you and cry with you, to always love and honor you, both freed and bound by our love, for as long as we both shall live." He slid the ring over her knuckle onto her finger, and Brennan couldn't remember a time that she had seen a bigger smile on her friend's face. Now it was Angela's turn.

"I, Angela Montenegro, take you, Jack Hodgins, to be none other than yourself. I promise to stand by your side; to encourage you and be open and honest with you, to laugh with you and cry with you, to always love and honor you, both freed and bound by our love, for as long as we both shall live." Brennan saw Angela blink away the tears in her eyes.

"Jack and Angela, within this blessed union of souls, where two hearts intertwine to become one, there lies a promise. Perfectly born, divinely created, and intimately shared, it is a place where the hope and majesty of beginnings reside, where all things are made possible by the astounding love shared by two spirits. As you hold each other's hands in this promise and eagerly look into the future in each other's eyes, may your unconditional love and devotion take you to a place that you've both only dreamed of, a place where you'll dwell for a lifetime of happiness, sheltered in the warmth of each other's arms." The priest paused for emphasis. "Because you have so affirmed, in love and knowledge of the other, so also do I declare that you are now husband and wife. Congratulations, you may now kiss your bride." The couple leaned in as a raucous cheer erupted. "I now present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Hodgins!"

Brennan smiled widely, happy for her friends, as she and the rest of the wedding party exited the church after Angela and Jack. Two limousines awaited, one for the newlyweds and one for everybody else. Climbing in behind the boys, she settled herself against the cool seat, dutifully ignoring Booth's leg pressing lightly against her own. Gracie, who had behaved fairly well during the ceremony, sat on Zach's lap, much to Brennan's amusement, and the limos headed for the banquet hall, the reception awaiting.

------------------------

"Would you like to dance, Bones?" Brennan, startled by Booth's sudden appearance by her side, hesitated a moment before taking his outstretched hand. The pair made their way to the wooden dance floor, currently crowded with couples. Booth placed his hands around her waist, his fingers linked over the small of her back, and she followed suit, draping her arms over his shoulders and around his neck. They'd never danced like this before, so damn close that she swore she could hear his heart beating just below her ear where it rested against his collarbone, but it was nice. She sighed and smiled, wishing everything was as simple as this. "That was a beautiful ceremony, huh?" Booth asked, tightening his arms slightly.

"Angela did a wonderful job of planning," Brennan agreed, nodding her head. She found it easy to follow Booth's lead, and they were moving slowly across the floor. "I'm sorry." That came out of nowhere, and she knew she was being too emotional, but it was easier to talk to him when he wasn't looking at her. "I really _am_ sorry, Booth."

"What are you sorry for?" Booth's right hand slid up her back in a soft caress.

"For breaking my promise. For not coming back to visit." Their dancing stopped, and she felt him pull away to study her. She kept her eyes focused on the knot in his tie.

"Hey, Bones…" He tipped her chin up to force her to look at him. "It's okay. I forgive you."

"Good." Brennan watched his face calmly, able to see the wheels turning in his head. After a moment, he dropped his hand from her chin and shook his head.

"Actually, and I'm being completely honest with you, it's not okay." _What? _"It's not okay, but it _will_ be."

"Oh…" She was rendered speechless by his candid words.

"From here on out, no promises between us, okay? It's too easy to break them."

"So what do we do now?" Brennan had an unexplainable urge to run.

"Right now?" When she nodded, he gathered her back into his arms before she could protest. "Right now, Bones, we dance."


End file.
